Something Changed Within Us
by mbatt
Summary: Kurt Hummel likes boys. Quinn Fabray likes them too, but she has a predilection for girls. In order to protect themselves from high-school bullying, they make an arrangement. What happens when feelings that shouldn't be there start to appear?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** Why hello there, Glee fandom. I'd never written any story for this fandom, but this idea has been stuck in my head for quite a while now.  
I would just like to make something very clear right from the start: my writing of a Kurt/Quinn romantic story is by no means meant to be offensive. I know shipping Kurt with any female character can be understood that way, but it is by no means my intention. Well, think about it: if I can make a straight character be gay for a fanfiction, then why can't I do the opposite? Of course I'm not going to blatantly ignore Kurt's sexuality in this fanfiction, it is actually quite the contrary.

Just wanted to clear that up. x)

Also, on another note: This fic starts before the show itself does, and takes a different direction from there. I will use the original storylines here, though, the difference will be on how I'll reach them.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Glee characters, storylines or songs. The copyright goes to where it is due.

* * *

She was on the 9th grade, and up until overhearing that conversation on the girls locker room, Quinn Fabray thought she was as discreet as she could possibly be.

"I mean, she could have _any_ guy she wanted. Any of the jocks would kill to go out with her - even Puckerman!"

"'Guess she's too happy seeing up the girls' skirts during practice for that."

Quinn froze for a moment as she heard Santana say that so nonchalantly to the other Cheerio, but she quickly put her 'HBIC' mask back on and proceeded to actually enter the locker room, pretending not to have heard a thing. "Hey girls," she said with a _you're-so-beneath-me_ sort of smile, the most appropriate one when in school.

She felt disgusted as Santana and the other Cheerio greeted her as if they were her best friends before leaving hurriedly.

Not that they were wrong in what they were commenting before she came in, except for the 'looking up the other Cheerios' skirts' part.

As she changed her clothes, Quinn thought about when she had first admitted to herself she was attracted to girls. She was just twelve years old when she developed a huge crush on a sophomore called Ella Morrison.

Chuckling to herself as she remembered how she'd always be in awe of how beautiful Ella was, to the point that she couldn't form a coherent sentence without stuttering like a fool when the older girl was around, Quinn packed her belongings, almost ready to go home.

She sat down and sighed to herself. It'd been hard for her, figuring out those feelings. She had been so conflicted between what her parents taught her and her feelings. She was so afraid her father would somehow find out about her crush and lash out all that hate she knew he had towards gay people on her - in fact, she was so afraid that she went through a streak of short-lived relationships with boys from school to try and push away the thought of herself being pushed away by her own father.

It's not that she didn't feel attracted to guys, because she did, but Puck, one of the most desired guys in school, was the prime example of how she just didn't feel good in relationships with them. She couldn't deny he was incredibly hot, but all she felt during her time with him was discomfort, no matter how much of a good kisser he was.

So she just gave up on boys and came to terms with what she felt towards her own gender. She just couldn't understand how something that made her feel so good, so happy, could be considered so wrong. She could remember as if it was yesterday... how hard her heart would beat when that girl Ella was nice to her, how big her smile would be from hearing a simple "hello".

Even though _she_ had come to terms with her confused sexuality, it didn't mean her parents would ever be the same - not only her parents, but pretty much anyone in that dreadful little town.

She sighed before putting her confidence mask back on and leaving the girls locker room. Apparently it was time she got a boyfriend again, if only to keep her secret well hidden.

* * *

Well I'm definitely not used to writing chapters as short as this one. It's just to set the basic plot, I'll post the next one in a few hours.

Reviews are not mandatory, but they're greatly appreciated. :)


	2. Chapters 2 & 3

Ok, so I felt too guilty for posting a chapter as short as that one, so I decided to post another one. Then I noticed that the next one was even shorter. Yeah...

So as to keep my conscience clean before I go to sleep (yes, I'm that much of a dork), I'm posting a two-in-one chapter.

Hope you enjoy it. :)

* * *

When she entered the school the next morning, followed by a loyal pack of Cheerios, Quinn had one goal set on her mind: find the perfect (fake) boyfriend.

The Cheerios behind her were babbling on about the hottest football players on the school team - the most mentioned one being, of course, Puck. They also talked a lot about Finn, and Quinn thought that maybe he'd be a good candidate for her. He was, after all, the star quarterback of the football team (if one could say there was a such a thing as a "star" in that team), and she was the head cheerleader. It'd be expected for them to be with each other - just another high school cliché.

She was telling herself she'd go looking for him before the school day was over when she saw a bunch of football players grouped around someone's locker.

There was no need to lead the rest of the Cheerios towards the scene, because they were already going there. Rolling her eyes to herself, Quinn did the same, with two Cheerios that were too scared to go there without her unspoken permission at her sides. They could be cute, but God, those cheerleaders were annoying.

Being the head Cheerio with the perfect confidence mask on meant not having to suffer painful pangs of elbows into your ribs as you try to walk along the hallway; people just open way as you come closer, which is why it didn't take much effort for Quinn to be able to see what was happening.

Azimio and some of his buddies were shoving a much smaller boy around, laughing as they did so. While Quinn just raised her eyebrow at the sight of the fashionably-clad boy slamming loudly into the lockers behind him, the Cheerios around her were quick to join the jocks' mocking with giggles and sarcastic comments. They were also quick to silence themselves when they saw the annoyed look Quinn shot them.

The football players quickly got bored of teasing the boy and went on to find another victim. With a wave of her hand, Quinn dismissed the Cheerios that were still around her, and approached the boy fixing his very expensive looking sweater.

"Name?"

He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow that made her think of herself. "Kurt Elizabeth Hummel," he replied. She smirked when she saw there was absolutely no intimidation showing in his eyes, despite obviously knowing who she was. It was a nice change from the usual attitute she got. "What may I do to serve you, my Queen?" he then asked, bowing ironically. She would've laughed at that, if it weren't for her HBIC disguise being on.

So instead of laughing, she gave him the quickest of smiles before leaving for her Calculus class, leaving an annoyed looking Kurt Elizabeth Hummel behind.

* * *

Kurt wasn't expecting Quinn Fabray to come talk to him again. Why would she, honestly? She probably didn't even know who the hell he was before this morning, when she, for some unknown reason, asked him his name. Who knew what went on inside that girl's head...

Fact was, pretty much nobody _talked_ to him at school. He didn't know whether the fact he now actually wore clothes he wanted to wear made his sexuality too obvious or if it was just the fact he was nowhere near the top of the social hierarchy. Probably some combination of both.

As much as he'd always been terrified that someone or something would have him out of the closet before he was ready, he wouldn't give up on his precious fashion - the precise reason the jocks insisted on giving him so much of their attention.

He wasn't as afraid of the students reactions if he came out of the closet as much as he was of his father's. His father loved him, he had no doubt, but he didn't know how he'd react upon finding out that his son was gay. For the other people at school, he was already a loser; for his father, he was the only thing left in the world. He didn't want that to be taken away.

Of course that didn't mean he appreciated being "slushied" on the face just when he was on his way to class from lunch. One of the jocks passing by him when he was trying to get early to class just happened to decide that his Marc Jacobs sweater needed some more blue in it, so Kurt was greeted with a blueberry-flavored slushie thrown right at him.

He couldn't help stopping on his tracks, the sound of the jock's laughter ringing in his ears as his mouth fell open at feel of the freezing drink dripping down his face and neck towards his two hundred dollar sweater.

After a few moments, he wiped his face harshly, then stormed into the guys' bathroom to try and clean himself up before class started. He had barely started to try to salvage his sweater when he heard the bell for class ring, causing him to slam the wet paper towel on the sink counter and curse under his breath.

Apparently it wasn't enough that he would have to get in late for his Geography class, because he heard someone ask him:

"So, are you gay?"

Turning around quickly, Kurt found himself face to face with Quinn Fabray again. "_Excuse _me?"

"Because I am," she said nonchalantly. "Well, okay, let's say 'bisexual'."

He looked at her.

She looked back.

He blinked once.

He blinked twice.

"W-what?" he finally managed to croak out.

She seemed annoyed for a few moments before she took some paper towels, wet them, and started wiping gently at his face. "Breathe, Hummel, you look like a fish out of the water."

Just then he realized his mouth was still hanging open in surprise, so he closed it. He couldn't even stop her from helping him as he normally would have; all his mind could focus on was that the Queen Bee Quinn Fabray had just told him she was gay out of nowhere. And... "Wait, why are you in the men's bathroom?"

She smirked and shrugged "I needed to talk to you." Stepping back, she threw away the completely blue-stained paper towels she'd used to clean his face. "So?"

He just looked at her. "'So' what?"

"Are you gay?"

Kurt blushed bright pink, before squeaking out a "no".

Quinn sighed again. "Look, I get that you're trying to protect yourself, really, and I might have the solution for you."

"Who _are_ you?" he blurted out. He didn't even realize he had said it out loud until she giggled. She _giggled_. Quinn Fabray had just _giggled_ amicably at him.

"Just me. Just Quinn."

"Gay."

"Yeah."

"Gay Quinn."

"Okay, this is getting old really fast."

She smiled again, this time at how Kurt's ears were as pink as his cheeks. Kurt couldn't believe that this girl standing right in front of him was the one on the top of the high school pyramid. Well, he actually could believe it, because it was hard _not_ to admit it was her - it was everything there, from the blond hair that looked oh so soft (and she probably didn't even have to spend hours on it to make it look like that), to the Cheerios uniform fitting her curves perfectly.

There was one thing missing, though. Kurt couldn't see any trace of the usual smugness on her expression, not one bit of the usual HBIC stance.

Seeing as Kurt didn't show signs of talking any time soon, Quinn perched herself up onto the sink counter. "Look, Hummel, here's the deal. I can prevent you from being pushed, slushied and thrown into the garbage, at the same time that I can protect myself."

Finally starting to regain his diva-like composure, Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"You need people to stop wondering if you're gay, and I need to prevent people to _start_ wondering if I'm gay."

She was interrupted by some dorky looking boy entering the bathroom. Kurt watched in amazement as the Quinn he was used to seeing around the hallways came back full-force. She shot the poor boy a look that sent him tripping out over his own feet. He was even more amazed to see her drop that posture when she was sure the boy had gone away.

"Like I was saying..." She paused and looked at him weirdly, only now noticing the look on his face. "What?"

"Uh, nothing. What is this magical solution of yours, anyway?"

"Simple. All you have to do is be my boyfriend."

* * *

Thank you for reading so far, I hope you'll stick around.

I also really appreciate the feedback on this, thank you so much. :)


	3. Chapter 4

FFdotnet seems to think I've done something really horrible once upon a time, considering the struggle I'm having to do pretty much anything around here, including updating this story.

I hope this time is the charm.

* * *

"_Excuse me_?" His voice came out so high pitched that Quinn couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"We don't actually have to date, Hummel, calm down."

Kurt rested a hand against his face, trying to do as she said. If he couldn't see how honest the girl was being with him, he would've sworn she was only trying to pull off a prank.

She bounced off the counter she'd been sitting on, brushing down her skirt. "Look, all we have to do is act like we're dating around the school, and the others will do the rest of the work."

If someone had told him a few days ago that Quinn Fabray would be asking him to "date" her, he would've laughed so much he'd probably cry. Letting out a breath, not even believing he was actually considering this, he asked, "Why me?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?"

He could think of a few answers. "Because while you're the head Cheerio, I'm so at the bottom of the school hierarchy that I don't even appear in it? Because you've never talked to me before this morning? Because we barely know each other? Because it's so obvious that I have much more of a fashion sense than you?"

Quinn smiled. "Do you really want me to answer each one of those?" Considering the way he was looking at her, she took the answer as an yes. "Alright. First of all, if you and I are 'dating'," she did air quotes, "you'll pretty much be at the top around here, too. Plus, the only reason I never talked to you is because..." Stopping for a moment, she thought about it. Why _hadn't_ she ever talked to him? He seemed nice enough, even he did wear some strange things at times. But of course it wasn't that simple. It never was. "Well, just look at us. We're being constantly judged.

"You may think that just because I'm the head of the Cheerios people actually like me, but it is the exact opposite. They either fear me, are jealous of me, or just plain hate me. The difference between you and me when it comes to that is that they usually prefer to stab me on the back rather than throwing a slushie on my face.

"As for the rest of your arguments, this time is as good as any other to get to know each other, and if I dress so horribly, maybe you can help me with that."

She took a deep breath. Only God knows why the hell she just rambled on like that, so it'd probably be better if she just shut up. She was so distracted thinking about how her mother would react if she cursed like that out loud, that she missed what Kurt had said. "What was that?"

"I said," he drummed his fingers against his leg for a few moments before going on, "okay. I'll do it."

* * *

Short, I know, don't make me feel more guilty! You know, I'm just... setting the ground for some more and... and...

Oh man, I'm too much of a dork.

Anyway. I hope you enjoy this small update, since the next one is coming really soon.


	4. Chapter 5

Thank you guys so much for reading, adding the story to your alerts, etc. It all makes me happy.

Also, thanks for those who took the time to review - it's always nice to know exactly how your story is coming across to others, and I'm so glad people seem to be enjoying it so far.

* * *

Kurt was sourly regretting his decision as they walked down the hall hand in hand after their last period. He'd thought he had made a good choice when Quinn smiled at him in the bathroom and thanked him. She _thanked him_. Quinn Fabray not only had been nice to him (admittedly in her own weird way), she actually thanked him for accepting to fake date her.

They'd gone their separate ways after their conversation in the guys' bathroom, with Quinn going to whatever class she had next and Kurt still trying to clean his sweater as best as he could. He was leaving his last class for the day when he found Quinn standing before him in yet another facade he'd never seen; this time, she still had that Queen Bee air to her, but she was also giving him a little... flirtatious smile.

Thank God she wasn't _actually_ flirting with him, because if that was the case, he could probably just throw away any sanity he still had left. Instead, she just asked him if he wasn't going to offer to carry her books for her, obviously just to gauge his reaction. He grit his teeth but didn't say anything as he took her books - he was the one who agreed to all this, after all.

The awkwardness he was feeling as she led him by the hand to her locker was pushed away by a sense of dread when he noticed a few Cheerios standing by their destination. Quinn seemed to notice his pace suddenly slowing down, because she squeezed his hand as if saying "don't you dare giving up on me, Hummel". In fact, he could practically hear her voice in his head, threatening to claw his eyes out or something.

Of course he wouldn't admit it, but somewhere inside him, he still wondered if Quinn was just going to turn to him and tell him that she couldn't believe he fell for her joke. It seemed like something perfectly plausible... if he ignored pretty much everything he'd seen and heard in the bathroom earlier, that is. But after years of suffering in the hands of the likes of Quinn, the fear was still there.

Instead of hearing the laughter and sarcasm he expected when they got near the other Cheerios, all he was greeted with was silence. Quinn didn't seem to mind it at all, she just threw them a "hey" and proceeded to open her locker. "Thanks for carrying my books for me, Kurt," she then told him.

That managed to snap him out of his surprised daze. "Sure, no problem," he said a bit hesitantly, as if by saying something he would trigger an attack from the girls around them, handing her the books as he did so.

He was starting to become convinced that he'd rather have those cheerleaders actually attack him already rather than looking at him like that. It was weird. Their looks were not only of curiosity, but also surprised and fearful. _Fearful_. Kurt had never seen anyone in that school throw him a look of fear like that - the closest he ever got was the ones the other guys would throw him when they were changing in the locker room after P.E. class.

A naïve looking blonde (Brittany, if he remembered correctly) smiled at him when Quinn wasn't looking and he gave her his best _I'm-not-interested_ diva smile. Not only because he obviously _wasn't_ interested in whatever that smile was supposed to mean, but because it only seemed appropriate, being Quinn's "boyfriend" and all (as weird as that still sounded). He was sure that Quinn's master plan would fall apart if he gave those Cheerios a(nother) reason to want to tear him apart.

Quinn was now resting her back against her locker and casting him a look that clearly meant "get over here_ right now_", so he did. As soon as Quinn took his hand in hers, the Cheerios around them hesitantly started some sort of conversation that couldn't sound more boring.

He just wanted to go home and forget he had actually agreed to put up with all of this. He was trying to figure out a way to tell Quinn that, when she pulled him towards her. His first reaction was almost pulling back immediately - he could've sworn she was going to _kiss_ him! -, but he held it back in time.

Making it seem like she was whispering something naughty in his ear, Quinn said "I suggest you put your arm around me, because Puck is coming this way."

And surely enough, Kurt could see Puck strutting towards their small group with his loyal companion, Finn, by his side.

If Kurt wasn't _Kurt Hummel_, he would've gulped down nervously, fidgeted on his feet and started stuttering some excuse to get the hell out of there. But since that was not the case, he simply put his game face on and wrapped an arm casually around Quinn's shoulders, trying to ignore how weird it felt as she snuggled up against him.

"What the fuck is _he_ doing here?" Puck said as soon as he got closer, ignoring something Finn ushered to him.

"Why do you care?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know why!"

"I don't _care_, Puck, go annoy someone else."

Kurt and the other Cheerios didn't say a word as they watched Quinn and Puck's glare match. Finn, on the other hand, tried to get Puck to let it go, to no effect. Apparently deciding to change techniques, Puck gave Quinn a smug smirk. "You think I don't know what this is?"

Quinn was sure Puck couldn't be farther from the truth. She felt like laughing. He obviously thought she was playing some sort of game with him, trying to make him jealous. It was kind of pathetic how he still thought she wanted to go to bed with him.

Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically at the whole exchange, and Quinn smiled at him just to make sure the rumors were flying around by tomorrow morning. Also because he _was_ kind of funny.

Finn probably had just realized Kurt and Quinn had a thing, because not only he looked at Kurt weirdly, but also because he looked like he was afraid Puck was going to punch someone - probably Kurt - right then and there. "Puck, come on, we should get going..."

"You know what?" Kurt suddenly said, surprising everybody else. "Don't bother. Sorry I can't stay to watch you practice, Quinn, but you know I promised Dad I'd help him out at the garage today." She certainly did not know such a thing, especially since he'd never made such a promise to his father, but she nodded nevertheless, looking a bit upset. Kurt gave her a smile and a kiss in the cheek. "I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll call you later, okay?"

She smiles brightly at him, despite them both knowing he wasn't going to call her, and he walks away with his head held high. If the others' expressions were any clue, his acting skills were really starting to pay off.

As Quinn led the other Cheerios to practice, she can't help but think she'd made the right choice when picking Kurt to be her "boyfriend". He was _good_.

* * *

I'm just going to say that the next update will take a bit more time than the previous ones, since my body seems to think it's the perfect time for me to get sick. No worries, though, since writing distracts me from stuff like that, but I obviously won't be able to write at the usual pace.

As always, thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 6

I'm really sorry for the delay in updating this, you guys, but here we go.

* * *

It'd been almost two weeks since Kurt and Quinn started "dating", and Kurt had to admit that things had become a whole lot easier for him at school.

He hadn't been dumped in the trash once ever since, for starters. Well, Puck almost managed to one morning, but Quinn had come to his rescue just in time - all she had to do was drag him away from Puck by the hand, barely sparing the jocks a look.

Better than being spared the slushies and shoves against the locker was that he hadn't needed to kiss Quinn for any that to happen. Not even once. Not even a peck. Thank God all they needed to do was exactly was she'd told him - just act the part.

Plus, Quinn was actually a good company. In fact, she was incredibly pleasant when she wanted to be, with a good sense of humor and a whole lot of intelligence to back it up.

She wasn't too pleasant when they were in front of the whole school, though. Actually, Kurt realized Quinn had a knack for being the one in control - be it in control of the other Cheerios, be it in control of their "relationship".

The problem was that Kurt was not a puppy that accepted anything that was thrown his away, and he made sure Quinn became aware of that the first time they got into an argument in the middle of the hallway. He couldn't really remember what the argument was _about_, but he did remember getting quite angry at her.

"I don't care if I agreed to do this whole thing," he'd hissed at her loud enough for them to be the only ones to actually understand what was being said, "I did _not _agree to be treated like garbage!"

"What, you prefer to go back to being the jock's punching bag then?" she'd answered in the same tone.

It was weird how easily they had started attracting other people's attention after their arrangement (well, how _he_'d started being under their attention, since Quinn had always been under the spotlights); he could clearly recall people already starting to whisper to each other by then, probably wondering what they were fighting about. It actually wouldn't surprise him if they'd been placing bets over how long they'd last ever since the rumors about them had started spreading.

It came to his attention that Quinn apparently wasn't used to having her "boyfriends" actually standing up for themselves. Well, of course she wasn't used to it, he thought; all they wanted was to get into her pants, so they'd agree to pretty much anything. For him, though, getting in her pants was probably the last thing he wanted to do, so there wasn't any reason for him to take any bull from her.

Which was exactly what he'd told her, being careful to pick his words so as not to arise any suspicions from their peers.

Her reply to that was incredibly pleasant, considering he'd expected a slap on the face. All she did was throw him a "screw you" before storming out and leaving him to the gaze of everyone that was in the hallway.

Weirdly enough, all he'd managed to think then was how amazing it was that she could storm out on someone and do it so gracefully.

They spent that whole morning apart, and Kurt didn't expect to actually miss her company. Maybe it was the fact that she was the closest thing he'd found to a friend in that school, even if their relationship was the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. And maybe that was what had made him wait in the library until the Cheerios practice was over after school to talk to her.

He definitely hadn't been expecting to have two Cheerios flocking him when he was going towards their locker room to wait outside for Quinn. And he _definitely_ didn't expect them to start flirting shamelessly with him, either. Screw them not even knowing him, just think about how until a week ago they couldn't way for a chance to throw insults at him!

The way he got flustered with their attention was embarrassing to him. Until then, he'd thought that if anything like that ever happened, he'd simply shrug the girls off and that would be it, but he hesitated. Not because he thought they were attractive - God, no -, but because he'd actually thought they were Quinn's friends.

It took him squeaking out Quinn's name when she finally got out of the locker room for them to quickly run off. He straightened his clothes out, thankful that his precious jacket was out of those girl's claws, and greeted her hesitantly with a simple "hey". He'd been thinking about what exactly he would say when he finally found her alone all day, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"Hey," she'd answered with a smile. A sad smile, he noticed.

She surprised him when she took his hand and intertwined their fingers together, that sad smile still on her face. She didn't say anything, she barely even looked at him as she led him towards her car in the school's parking lot. Any traces of the irritation he was expecting from her seemed to have disappeared, as if she'd forgotten all about their fight on the hallway. All she did as they finally reached her car was stand there looking at their hands.

They just stood there in silence for a few minutes and a few Cheerios passed by them on their way home, throwing curious looks at them.

"You saw that, didn't you?" Kurt finally said to break the silence. "Those girls... how they were..."

Quinn let out a humorless laugh. "Throwing themselves at my 'boyfriend'?" She finally looked back at him. "What, you actually thought I didn't know they'd do that as soon as they got the chance?"

"I..."

"They're not my friends, Kurt. None of them are."

That was the first time Kurt ever considered that maybe Quinn was as lonely as he was, that maybe she didn't have the comfort of all the friends he thought she had.

She seemed to notice his look of surprise, because she let out another one of those sad laughs. He found out that every time she let out one of those, he felt sadder himself. "I told you they're fond of back-stabbing."

"I don't get it, Quinn. Why do you put up with it? You don't have to."

"Don't I? You should know better, Kurt. You know what it's like, being their target. Why would I want to go through that?"

He started to get exasperated, letting go of her hand and gesticulating as he exclaimed his point of view. "I don't know! So that you don't have to put up this facade every single day? So that you can be yourself?"

"Now you're being a hypocrite," she said, starting to get annoyed. "_You're_ telling _me _about being myself in front of them? Do you happen to remember what we're doing?"

That got him to shut his mouth tightly. She was right. He'd agreed to become her supposed boyfriend just so he could keep on hiding who he really was. "That's... different," he managed to get out after a few moments.

"Oh, really? Please, explain me, how exactly is it any different?"

"Because," he finally realized they had started to talk too loudly, so he took a deep breath as he looked around the school's parking lot and started again, more quietly this time. "Because I don't care what _they_ think of me. All I care about is what my father would think if he found out that... if he found out about the truth."

He certainly didn't expect to ever have such a deep conversation with Quinn. Even though they'd been spending their time in school together every single day ever since they started their little facade, their conversations tended to be comfortably neutral, and it seemed like she liked to keep her personal matters as private as he did with his own.

"And you don't think I know what that's like?" she asked, reaching for the cross she always had around her neck. "Kurt, my parents are so conventional that I don't get to just wonder how they'd react - I _know_. Sure, they love me, but my father is the most closed minded man I've ever known, and my mom would never stand up to him. They're proud of me because I'm the head cheerleader, because I'm such a good Christian, because I'm the head of the celibacy club... because of everything but who I am."

Kurt watched as her eyes started watering, feeling something between sad and horrified.

"It's pathetic, but I'm willing to be everything I'm not if it means having my parents still loving me. I'm sorry if you don't agree with me when I say it's worth it, Kurt, but I'm not asking you to. I just need to know if you're willing to keep doing this... for yourself, if not for me. "

His throat felt dry as she looked away from him and wiped her eyes before the tears got the chance to run down her face. "Quinn," he said, "I told you before, and I'll tell you again. I'll do it. Look at me."

She did as he told her to, and he could see she was trying to keep herself together. He'd done the exact same time too many times to count. "I'll do it for both of us."

He didn't expect her to hug him, even if hesitantly, and if they hadn't just had that conversation, he probably wouldn't feel comfortable enough to hug her back.

Truth to be told, he'd seen so much of his own feelings in her eyes, that if he denied her the comfort she needed - the comfort he himself craved so many times before -, it would mean he'd lost his mind along with his heart.

* * *

I apologize for any mistakes in this one, as I didn't have as much time to revise it as I would have liked, but I really hope you enjoyed it. I was a bit uncertain on whether or not to skip ahead a little bit, but the people I showed it to gave me the go-ahead, so... there you have it.

Thank you all for reading.

I'd also like to wish happy holidays to everyone. :)


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